TUF 17 Finale's Miesha Tate: 'I didn't feel like I was out of the fight'

LAS VEGAS – Heading into the third round of her bout with Cat Zingano (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Miesha Tate (13-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was winning on two of three judges’ scorecards. Then it all went wrong. But while Tate said she doesn’t want to complain, she also doesn’t believe her TKO loss was justified.

“I’m pissed to say the least,” Tate said. “I’m definitely not happy. I mean, f—, I still feel like I was in the fight. I don’t for one second feel like it should have been stopped.”

Tate and Zingano met on the FX-broadcast main card of Saturday’s The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale event in Las Vegas. Tate controlled much of the early action with a dominant wrestling attack and capable striking, but Zingano refused to quit and mustered up a third-round comeback.

Zingano started the finishing sequence with a takedown and heavy ground-and-pound blows. With referee Kim Winslow hovering over the fighters, Tate struggled up to her feet, where Zingano unleashed a barrage of knee strikes. A wobbled Tate lunged at a takedown, but Winslow decided she had seen enough and waved off the fight at the 2:55 mark of the final frame.

Tate said Winslow warned her before the fight how to best act in such a situation but does not feel like the official made a sound decision.

“Kate came in and told me before we ever left the locker room that, ‘If I warn you to move, all I need to know is that you want to stay in the fight,'” Tate explained. “I felt that I did that. I got from the bottom up. I got kneed a few times on the way. I tried to shoot another shot, and the fight was stopped. I didn’t feel like I was out of the fight.”

Complicating the situation was some speculation that Zingano’s first knee strike was actually illegal and landed while Tate still had one hand on the floor, qualifying her as a downed opponent. Speaking at the evening’s post-event press conference, Tate admitted she hadn’t yet reviewed tape of the fight but said she was told by others the blow did not conform to the Unified Rules of MMA.

“I didn’t consciously think it was illegal, but someone sent me a picture and was like, ‘The first knee, you were on your hands and knees, and you were going to get up. She kneed you on the way up, but your hand was still clearly on the ground,'” Tate said. “And they sent me a picture, and I was like, ‘Oh, I guess that’s a valid point.'”

For her part, Zingano said she also hadn’t yet reviewed the tape and didn’t recall the specifics of the positions. Despite the perceived controversy, Tate said she isn’t expecting to file any requests for an official review of the finishing sequence.

In the end, Tate said she always expected Zingano to be a difficult out and wasn’t surprised by her resiliency. Still, with the bout halted with a little more than two minutes remaining and potentially on her way to a decision win, Tate wishes Winslow had let the fight carry on.

“I’m a fighter; I wanted to keep fighting,” Tate said. “I came out strong those first two rounds. I felt excellent. She’s petty heavy from top position, but [Winslow] told me to ‘Show me something.’ I don’t know what you want.

“I sat up. I shot a double. I got to my feet. I took some damage because of that because I was trying to listen to the referee, and she f—ing stopped the fight. What do you want, you know?”

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